Somali Police Force Prepares to Take Over From AMISOM

By Dzifa Tetteh

The Deputy Police Chief for the Somali Police Force (SPF), Brigadier General Zakia Hussein Ahmed, has assured the world that her country is working hard to build the capacity and competences of personnel to take over, after the withdrawal of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The transition is expected to take place in 2021.

She said since the process would be conducted in a gradual way, the SPF was putting several measures in place, and working with all the relevant stakeholders for the nation to fully take charge of affairs.

The Deputy Police Chief, who is the first female to occupy the position in Somalia, said these when she interacted with journalists.

Brigadier General Ahmed urged the journalists to help tell the positive story of Somalia, adding that the SPF was also intensifying community policing to breach the gap between the police and the public.

She said community policing was also to get the citizenry actively involved in preventing crime and solving challenges in communities.

Brigadier General Ahmed said schools and communities would be the immediate targets, to encourage and empower students and the youth to contribute to development.

She said as the first female Deputy Police Chief she would convince more females to join the SPF to contribute to national development.

Brigadier General Ahmed expressed her displeasure about what she described frequent negative stories by the international media.

She said Somali citizens have now decided to project themselves by resorting to the use of social media, since it appears the international media would not tell their side of the story, which was to give hope to its citizens, and the entire world and also to encourage those outside the country to return and help.

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